A Northern Group, Democracy Watch Initiative (DWI) has cautioned the Executive to stop interfering in the election process of principal officers of the National Assembly.
The Secretary of DWI, Lawal Rabiu Tinka while addressing journalists on Monday, expressed worry over what it described as persistent drive towards totalitarianism and tyranny in insisting on imposing a leadership on the 10th National Assembly.
He said this move is in total disrespect for the democratic delineation of powers among the executive, legislative and judicial organs of government.
He said the group finds it disheartening that the current executive arm of government, by its recent actions or complicit silence, appears bent on dwarfing the other arms of government by arbitrarily abusing the amplitude and plenitude of privileges allowed to it.
“We are worried also that while the principle and practice of the separation of powers, is a major hallmark of democratic governance, players in the current administration, in open display of recklessness, are working on violating this major pillar, thereby threatening orderly society and potentially placing democracy and the Nigerian state at imminent risk.
“Whereas in practice, each organ is constitutionally barred from encroaching on the boundaries of another organ, we note a rising level of intensification of the desperation of the executive arm of this government to impose a leadership on the legislature by every means and tactics”, he said.
Tinka said this action has led to devising various schemes to deny major aspirants to the Senate Presidency and Speakership of the House of Representatives their constitutional rights to seek election through a democratic due process.
In the resolutions of the group, Tinka said “today we say, this impunity must stop and call on all Nigerians, young and old, men and women, traditional, cultural and religious leaders, politicians, civil servants, businessmen and women, teachers and students, the media and the civil society to rise and get involved in this struggle to free our country and our democracy from this emerging dictatorship.
“We invite the attention of Nigeria’s friends in the international community to the emerging trend in Nigeria and call on them to be vigilant as to the direction our country and our democracy are headed.